


Little Moments

by Yoru_Lun



Series: Crossing the Verse [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Teen Wolf (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Compliant, Angst, Avengers Family, Dealing With Lost, Domestic Avengers, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Sorry, Not Beta Read, Phil Coulson is Claudia Stilinski's Brother, Phil Coulson is Stiles Stilinski's Uncle, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Phil Coulson, Sad Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Stilinski Family Feels, What Have I Done, What Was I Thinking?, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-08-22 14:05:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8288407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoru_Lun/pseuds/Yoru_Lun
Summary: A collection of ficlets for my Crossing the Verse series.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So while working on the Starting Anew, I was hit by various ideas and emotions. This is where I will dump all of the excess plots that I just can't wait to type.

The first time Phil held his nephew in his arms, he felt his whole world come to a complete halt. It is a sensation that he had only felt once before and that was when he first held his baby sister, Claudia. Now here he was, cradling the small live that Claudia and John had brought into the world.

He was so small, a little on the smaller side for a newborn but Phil knew the boy have a powerful pair of lungs from the loud crying he had been doing. His cries made something inside him snap and slid into the empty slot he never knew existed. The next thing he knew, he was cradling the baby with absolute gentleness that he had not shown for decades.

Phil remembered making cooing sounds to shush the crying baby and it worked because the boy had immediately quietened to small whimpers. He traced the still wrinkly skin with the pad of his fingers, wiping the tears away with utmost tenderness. 

And his nephew had chosen that time to finally open his eyes to the world.

Phil knew that he is not a sappy person, someone who serenade poetic words. Despite his look, Phil is a very tough man and with an even colder heart due to his line of work but the moment he met the eyes of his newborn nephew, his heart warmed and melted into a puddle of goo.

The liquid amber eyes that mirrored Claudia looked back at him with pure innocence that only a newborn child could have and Phil suddenly felt so inadequate to be holding this baby. 

His hands are dripping with the blood of people he had killed in order to fulfill his missions and it suddenly felt so wrong to be holding this innocent baby in his blood covered hands. What if he taints this innocence with the darkness he had thrown himself into?

As reading his thoughts, the baby gurgled in a language that only newborn understand and Phil felt a feeling akin to panic rise up inside him. He was so afraid that the baby would burst into tears again and was looking at Claudia for help but sister only looked amused at his predicament. If the laughter in her eyes was anything to talk about.

Phil had moved to give the baby back to her but the baby made a whimpering sound when he did so and that whimper actually stopped when Phil cradled him his arms once again. The baby had even seized one of his fingers and held it captive in between his small breakable hands, suckling on it as if it was a pacifier. Phil looked at his sister with a wide eyed look, like a deer caught in the headlight and his sister only burst into joyous laughter with her head thrown back

For the first time in his life, Phil does not know what to do because he has no experience with dealing a baby that is not his younger sister and it looks like the child is adamant in being held by Phil out of all people. The baby should be more than happy to return to the embrace of his mother’s arms and that was how things were supposed to be.

“Well it looks like he already claimed you as his favorite seat. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has you wrapped around his little fingers soon enough.”

Claudia had told him with the same teasing smile he had grown up seeing but her eyes held the kind of tender love that Phil had never seen before. Yes, Claudia was still the mischievous spitfire that he had raised on his own after their parents’ death but it looks like being a mother had mellowed her out. And Phil suddenly felt as if he was punched in the gut.

The reality came crashing on him at that time and he just realized that the boy he was cradling in his arms is his family, his flesh and blood through Claudia.

This precious small bundle of joy was something that both of them had always wanted, a family. Growing up as orphans with only the each other to lean on, they always dreamt of having a family of their own but Phil knew his line of work was too dangerous for him to build his own family, to have a child of his own.

Holding his nephew in his arms was the closest thing he have to holding his own child and Phil felt so out of breath all of a sudden. It felt so surreal for him at that time but staring down at the boy held close to his chest, Phil knew he would love his nephew like his own son. 

He would be there to witness the milestones of his life and he would be there through every steps he takes, to love and support him, to catch and hold him when he falls. This boy had become his the moment Claudia had placed him in his arms and Phil guarded what was his with jealous abandon.

Years later into the future, he found himself with his arms wrapped around the same boy whom he had once held in the hospital room under the watchful eyes of his sister. The boy had grown so much, even surpassing him in height but to Phil, he is still the same baby that he once cradled to his chest hours after his birth.

Instead of taking his finger hostage like he had done when he was still a small baby, his nephew had latched onto him like a very clingy octopus, wiry limbs wrapping around Phil in utter desperation. Phil did not mind it at all because he only holds the boy even tighter against him, tucking the headful of brown hair under his chin as he gathered the sobbing teen into the embrace of his arms.

This had become a frequent thing for them ever since his nephew had moved in with him at New York. Phil would always be woken up by Stiles’ nightmare induced scream and he always hightailed into his nephew’s room like a bat out of hell to calm him down. He would gather the flailing teenager into his arms and hold onto him until Stiles is calm enough. Phil would then shift their position to where he could cage his nephew using his own body so that he could rock their body together with more ease.

Most people would have found it disturbing but Stiles had said it helped him to calm down and sleep more soundly. So Phil found no problem in holding his nephew in his arms for the rest of the night until they both were woken up by the first ray of sunlight.

Even if Phil have to do this every night, he would not mind it at all because he wanted this. He wants this closeness, this dependency that his nephew has on him. It might be a twisted thing, something convoluted for others but Phil never claimed to be a stable person. 

Losing most of his family and having more than a handful brush with deaths had caused him to be very protective of what he still has and now Stiles is the only blood family he still has, the only thing that reminded him of the good days. Stiles is the reminder that he is a human and a man only become a monster when they wanted to protect things that precious to them.

If his nephew needed for him to hold him every night to keep the nightmare away, then that is what Phil will do because Stiles is his world.


	2. Waking Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil woke up from his supposed death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The timelines for all of these ficlets would not be set, sometimes it would be in the past or in the future of the current main series. And this one is in the past. 
> 
> And I had got started on season 1 Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. God I need a lot of tissues after watching it and Thor's hammer to smash up Ward. I really want to kill him.

The first time he woke up with a clear mind and coherent thought was a whole month after his supposed death and never would that stop being weird to him each time he thinks about it.

He had been dead.

Not the ten seconds’ dead where he could still be revived.

He was **_dead._**

And for almost a week until they managed to revive him somehow.

Phil tried not to think what they had done to him, if the flashback that sent his brain throbbing is anything to go by but his mind immediately went to his family.

He could already guess just what Nick had told them when his heart stopped beating and he already picture the face that both John and his nephew would have made when they received the news.

It was not hard for him to imagine John drowning himself with the amber liquid again and his ears are already ringing with the horrible sound of the broken sobs that his nephew had made when Claudia was pronounced dead.

He had struggled and argued with his doctors that he is well enough to be allowed out but they had shot him down with the argument that he could still be harmful to not only himself but those around him. It was only the threat that he could potentially hurt his family that stopped him from breaking his way out from the sterile white room they had placed him in.

Nick had been the only familiar face that had frequently visited him and just when he began to wonder just where his two constant shadows are, they had popped in one day.

And they were not alone.

The rest of the Avengers had flooded the facilities and each of them had on an expression with varying degree of relief and concern. It was a bit alarming for him at first to be the center focus of all of these overwhelming emotions from Earth’s mightiest heroes but he soon calmed down enough when his eyes met with the equally stormy eyes of his two most trusted friends.

He watched as the two assassins stood by the door, face deceptively calm despite the shadows in their eyes. He could already read the thoughts that were going through their head, knowing fully well just what they were thinking as they raked their eyes over him.

They were afraid to believe that he is real.

Phil knew that these two had been burned more than a dozen time to ever hope something like the revival of a loved one to be possible. He could see all of their doubts written all over their face and the hesitancy in their tense muscles.

And seeing them like this is what made him decide that he would not shoot Nick the next time he sees him for reviving him, though he will still punch him for telling his nephew of his death when he is just going to revive him not long after.

The Avengers seemed to sense their need for privacy, well Bruce and Steve does and between the two of them, they ushered Thor and Tony out from the room with a long string of well wishes following them out until they closed the door behind them.

Silence blanketed them Phil allowed for them to have their moments of doubts before he let loose his hold on his snarks. Not even death can change this side of him and being trapped in a room with Nick as his only constant company make him all the more snarky as he held all of it in.

“So gonna just ogle me like a piece of meat or are you gonna come get a taste of it.”

The cracks that formed on their impeccable mask was something that he never thought he would ever see nor does the vulnerable expression beneath it. He never thought he have enough influence over them to see them being this open with him.

He never knew he was important enough to them for them to let him see their moment of defenselessness.

That was what Claudia was for, why he had introduced them to his sister. He knew that he does not have enough compassion in him to help them deal with the emotional and psychological damage that life had dealt to them but he also knew that his sister is the perfect person to aid them in their path of redemption, what with her bleeding heart and a readiness to help anyone who she had taken under her wings.

He had hoped that they would be more attached to her because he knew that he lacked what they needed in order for them to heal and in a way, he had secured a better security for Claudia. It was a subtle manipulation on his part at first but he did not expect to come to care for them like he would his sister nor for them to be the same with him.

He had never thought it was mutual until today.

He saw them rushing toward him but he does not let his ingrained reflex to kick in because he knew they would not hurt him. They were never a threat to him, not ever since Claudia had first placed her son into their arms. If there were anyone who were more fiercely protective than him, then it would be his sister because he had seen the sheer extent she would go to in order to protect those she loved, even if it is over something petty. But she is a great judge of character, she was never wrong.

Claudia would never have allowed the two assassins anywhere near her son if she does not trust them.

The arms that wrapped around him felt more suffocating than Thor’s and the emotions it brought forth are more intense than being hugged by his childhood idol but never had felt more safer to be encased within the tight embrace that the two assassins had gathered him into.

He had given up on guessing whose hand are on his back and whose is on his thigh because by this point, all he cared about is having them closer to him. They did not cry nor did they sobbed against his shoulders, they only held onto him more tightly as they tried to assure themselves that he is real.

Phil could only hold them close in what felt like an eternity that he would have never wanted to move away from if the thought of his nephew had not reached his mind.

He knew that he had warned against any of them from approaching his nephew again if he was declared dead but he does not think they would leave Stiles defenseless by severing their connection with him completely.

“What about Stiles? Did any of you go to him?”

They released him from the tight hug they had wrapped him into but they did not let him go completely, as if they were afraid that he would disappear if they did.

He knew it was Nick’s duty to inform his family of his death but he does not think these two would pass up the chance of seeing Stiles again after so long.

Though their averted gaze proved him wrong.

“We went with Fury.”

“But we only saw him from the distance.”

“Fury said it was too dangerous.”

“Your death was too new and people could’ve traced us.”

Clint and Natasha talked after each other, as if they had practiced to say it but Phil knew them well enough to know that it is from years of working together that allowed for the two to be in complete sync with each other.

“He looked so much like her.”

Phil knew what Natasha is talking about because it is getting harder for him to see his nephew in the eyes and not see the shadow of his sister in him. He knew that Stiles would be the carbon copy of his mother, what with the boy receiving every physical trait from her but he did not expect for him to also have her personality too.

If he had not been there during the birth of Claudia that had claimed the life of his mother, he would have not thought that they would be blood related to begin with. Claudia had been so vibrant with life and always caught the eyes of the crowd with her endless enthusiasm, much like her son, and Phil had always been the bland one, the one who people always slide their eyes over and dismiss as nothing.

Stiles is his mother’s son through and through.

“He grew up so much Phil.”

He could basically feel the regret in Clint’s voice because if there is anything that being a father had changed for Clint, it is his level of protectiveness over his ‘first’ son. Stiles is as much as a son to him as Cooper is but Clint have a deeper bond with his nephew than his own son because Stiles is his first. It was Stiles who made him realize that he could be a husband, a father and Phil did not blame him for regretting the choice they had made to keep their distance from him.

All three of them had lost the chance to see him grow up into the teenager he is today and despite Phil often calling him on a regular basis and a couple of video calls, it was not the same as actually being there to witness it themselves.

“Can you two do something for me?”

And with only those words, the two assassins had broken him out from his medical prison and had flown him halfway across the country to see his nephew. Though they had refused to personally meet him, citing Nick’s words on the possible threat they could have brought to Stiles if they were seen with him. None of them would take the chance.

He would have not gotten the bloody nose and sore ribs if he had opted to call the two Stilinski first before knocking on their door. Who would have thought that his nephew has a mean efficiency with the baseball bat when he was faced with a supposed dead relative and the right hook from a surprised but somewhat sober John had left him with a crooked nose.

Phil had fully expected for the bodily harm to come from the two assassins that he called friends but never had he expected to receive it from his family. Though their tearful hugs and apologies afterward made it all the more bittersweet.

He guessed he deserved it after all, for all of the tears and heartbreak that he had undoubtedly caused them when Nick told them of his supposed death.

And that reminded him that he has a certain one eyed bat to punch after he manage to get away from the clingy limpet that his nephew had become.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am well aware that the knowledge of Phil's revival was not made known to the Avengers but since there are an outside non-canon presence that got involved during the Battle of New York and later the revival of Phil, they were told, well more like the outside party dragged them in and with Tony already partially digging his way in. 
> 
> Anyway, enough nugget dump, I think this will get you guys going until the next chapter of the main story but until then, try to guess what or who the third party is. I will give anyone who got it mostly right a bigger nugget in private.
> 
> Wait for the next installment with utmost patience cause it will take a while.
> 
> I still have another week of exam to go through and my mom will start her chemotherapy this 29th. God I still can't believe she have it. I am still scouring the internet and library for every info on it and also about her illness. If you have any suggestions, maybe you guys can point me that way, I really need to know everything, anything that could help her.
> 
> Anyway, before I get any more depressing, leave a review on the way out!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the event of SA from Natasha's view and I am seriously in an author block with the main series and this is only to help me thaw out the frozen ice block that is my brain

Home.

The word still tugged at something inside of her each time she heard it and it used to leave behind a bitter taste in her mouth whenever she was faced with the prospect of it. It is not something that she often associated with herself because home is an alien word as much as freedom is to her. She does not have a place to be called home.

Her first memory of a place being the closest thing to a home was the empty white washed walls of the Red Room. It had been where she had grown up in, or at least that was where she assumed to have grown up in. She is not so certain anymore these days because her earliest memory had started on the year of 1928.

That should have not been possible because she barely looked any older than mid-twenties. Perhaps it had been one of the fake memories implemented into her during one of her many brainwashing sessions but she had distinctly remembered the unfamiliar phantom warmth of gentle touches.

By this point though, she had learned to sort out the many confusing memories of her past, carding through each memory with meticulous efficiency before storing away what she had deemed as fake to the back of her mind. She learned to accept what she wanted in order to cope.

She does not care how old she is or if she is truly just a human and not an enhanced one. She has a new life now, a family who accepted her for who she is and not who she used to be, loved ones who she can make many more precious true memories with.

Even if she could not completely wipe away the red in her ledger, she could even out the scale by doing good. Clint and Phil had given her the opportunity she needed to change her away and they had given her the safe haven she needed in order to become the new woman she wanted to be, someone who killed to protect others.

They are her rock when she went through the grueling process of redeeming herself, they anchored her and assured her during her moments of uncertainty, when she began to doubt that she is doing any change at all.

Being with them had shaped her into the person she is today and they had never judged her when she reverted back to her old self when everything became too much for her to handle, especially Clint, who had also gone through the same thing as her when Phil had given him a chance at redemption.

She did not tell them everything about her time in the Red Room, not when she herself is not sure which memories was true but she had told them what she had felt, why she wanted to change so much. They are the only people who had understood her the most and the only one who hold her complete trust, that is until they introduced her to Phil’s sister, Claudia.

Natasha had never been in touch with her feminine side, other than to use it against her targets during her mission, she had never deemed herself to be a feminine woman. Her beauty and sex are as much as a weapon to her as her Widow’s Bite and the multitude of weapon in her arsenal. She had never had a personal opinion about how she dressed other than to use her beauties to the fullest potential in order to make her target let their guard down.

So to have another woman in her life had brought forth so many things to her, most are something that she never knew she had. Claudia taught her how to relax when she is not on duty, she taught her the small things in life that she had never bothered to dabble in before and she also taught her what it meant to truly be a woman.

Claudia taught her that she is not just a weapon to be utilized in missions.

She taught her what it meant to be a mother.

Natasha had been present when Claudia broke the news of her pregnancy to them and she had been there throughout the whole process of it. She had seen the overflowing joy the enthusiastic woman had portrayed as she grew rounder from the life growing in her. She had been there to witness the radiant glow that shrouded her when she strokes the bump of her stomach.

And she wants that.

Something inside of her tugged painfully at the sight of Claudia brimming with life, like a persistent itch that she cannot scratch. Perhaps it was jealousy but she knew it was useless to be jealous over something that she could never have but it still hurt to think that she could never be as happy as she had been when she was pregnant with Stiles.

The Red Room had ensured that she would never be able to get pregnant, that she would not be distracted from her missions just because she had conceived a child from her previous target. They had taken away the only thing that she ever wanted in the world.

A child.

She wanted a child of her own, someone who was of her own blood, someone who she had conceived inside of her body for nine months, someone who she chooses to have.

But that choice was taken away from her before she even knows what she had lost.

Yet being the ever compassionate person she was, Claudia had always shared her happiness with her, letting her feel the baby growing in her and letting her hear the small heartbeat of the life she had conceived. Natasha still have the grainy images of the sonogram tucked away in her safe, showing the image of the fetus that could have been inside of her if the Red Room had not removed the one place it could only grows up in.

Claudia had sat beside her in silence when Natasha told her of what the Red Room had done to her, of her longing to have something of her own, to have a child that she could proudly claim as hers. The brunette had been silent throughout the whole thing, something really out of character for the usually talkative person but Natasha always knew that she was more perspective than what most people gave her credit for, and her son had inherited that perspective of hers.

Her silent presence by her side helped her talk about it and it is only her comforting warmth wrapped around her that managed to make her let go of the control she has over the tears that she had kept at bay for decades. It was the first and the last time she had genuinely cried and Claudia had held her through it in silence, rubbing a soothing hand over back as she hugged her tenderly but fiercely despite the baby bump between them.

Natasha had fallen asleep like that, lulled to sleep by the sound of Claudia humming the same Polish lullaby that Phil often hum under his breath when he thought no one would notice and also to the sensation of the baby kicking against the skin that she had pressed her cheeks to.

The next day, Claudia had declared her to be the godmother to her unborn child and Natasha had felt a rush of affection toward her and the baby in her womb. The simmering happiness that she had felt never diminished and it only strengthened when she held the squirming newborn to her chest for the first time.

And that was the moment where she had fallen in love for the first in her life.

Even if the baby was not hers by blood, she could not deny the overflowing feeling of love that had flooded her when she gazed into the baby’s pools of liquid amber. Her heart fluttered at the sound of his undiscernible gurgles and her stomach warmed up at the sight of his toothless smile.

The years that followed his birth was like a dream that she never wished to ever be woken up from and she had always been happy whenever Claudia relegated the babysitting duty to her whenever she came over. She might never have the chance to conceive a child of her own but she could raise the boy as her own despite there being no blood connecting them together.

Stiles was hers when Claudia declared her to be his godmother, he is her baby, her son, her child, he is hers.

Seeing Claudia being consumed by the dementia had killed a part of her, it killed her to see the woman who had been so happy about the conception of her son to forget everything about the boy and hate him even to her dying breath. It killed her to see the woman who had given her so much to hurt the boy that they both love with more than anything else.

Natasha had taken over the maternal duty upon her death, loving and caring for the son that she had left behind. She took care of him and taught him what Claudia had taught her, she taught him about the small things in life, about the skills that was ingrained in her systems from her time in the Red Room, about what he would need to grow up into the great man she knew he would be, a man that he would have become if Claudia is here to help him grow.

And it killed her for the second time to make the decision of keeping a distance between them when her work become too dangerous and risky for them to be in connection. She does not want to let go of the boy that had become her son through choice but she also does not want him to be endangered by her enemies, whom would be more than gleeful to go above and beyond to have her weakness in their hand.

For four years, she had forced herself to curb her desire to see Stiles and the events of the Chitauri had solidified her belief that she is doing the right thing in order to ensure the safety of the boy but when Phil had received that news, she had felt overwhelming fear that someone could have possibly slipped through the tight security net she had placed all over Stiles.

When her fear was proven wrong, she had felt a feeling of swarming relief when it is not Stiles who they had lost. She does not know what she would do if it had been Stiles. She does not think she would be able to get over it if she had lost him too.

Many thoughts had flitted through her mind when they journeyed toward the town that she had forced herself to avoid. She felt the unsettling sensation of nervousness in her stomach at the thought of seeing the boy that she had left behind and she wondered how Stiles would react upon seeing her again after so long.

It felt unfair for Stiles because they are basically only returning back for him when he is at the most vulnerable, where he would not fight off their presence because he needed them. It felt too much like manipulating him that it does not sit right with her.

She does not want to take advantage of Stiles, that is what she does to her enemies and targets, not her loved one.

So she had been silent throughout the whole journey, mulling over her thoughts as she kept up her vigilance over the situation. Her nerves were a frazzled mess when they arrived but no one saw it because this is how everything is supposed to be, no one can notice the cracks in her composure, no one other than the two men with her.

Outwardly, her face is an impeccable mask of neutrality but if one knew her enough, they could see the storm in her eyes as she watched over every people within the perimeters that she and Clint had set up. The urge to go see Stiles is strong but she forced herself to wait again, if she could deny herself for four years, then a couple of hours should be easier but it did not make the wait any less grueling for her.

The hours passed with her standing vigilant over the two remaining Zieliński from within the shadow. Her eyes often wandered toward Stiles, taking small glances of the young adolescent that the boy had become. She could see the shadow of his parents in him, shoulders broad like his father but with lithe built like her mother. His coloring screamed Claudia but his stature is definitely from his father.

Natasha could feel her heart aching in her chest at the sight of the dark rings under his eyes, of the lifeless look in his eyes. She wondered if she could have prevented Stiles from feeling the pain of losing his father if she had been here with him, if she could wipe away that lost expression on his face.

When they returned to the Stilinski house, she could not help but reminisce of the memories she has in this house. She could still remember with perfect clarity of each events that had happened during her time here and she allowed herself a moment of vulnerability as she took in the house that used to be a home to her when Claudia was still alive.

Phil arrived with Stiles not long after and it is not hard for her to see him working himself into a fit of panic attack when he entered the house, she knew just what he is thinking because people always reminiscing of the past when they had lost something.

So she had went to hug him like she had done when the boy was younger. Stiles often had panic attack after Claudia’s death and Natasha had conditioned him to calm down when he was hugged from behind with someone holding onto his hands and whispering the word ‘Breathe’ in his ears. She watched as Clint claimed his hands and allowed for Phil to whisper the word in his nephew’s ear.

As they waited for him to catch his breath and calm down, Natasha took the moment to analyze the teenager that Stiles has become. It is not surprising that he had surpassed her in height since she is on the shorter side but it is quite surprising to see him as tall as he is right now when he had been such a small child growing up. She could already see the outline of the man he would soon fill into and she felt a pang of sadness at missing the chance of seeing him grow up into this gangly teen.

Phil had given them pictures and update but it is different than being there to witness it herself.

When they all laid curled on the bed that night, Natasha held the teen close to her, burying her face in the crook of his neck as she spooned him. The small boy that used to fit so perfectly in her arms had grown up into this teenager with long wiry limbs and would only continue to grow until he filled into the frame of a man with broad shoulder and tall stature.

She could feel Phil’s eyes on her as she pretended to sleep but she did not deign to give him any response as she focused on the sound of Stiles’ soft breathing and the sluggish heartbeat against her palm. She wanted to savor this moment before Stiles wake up and the reality come catching up to him.

The days that followed their stay in the Stilinski house had been a bittersweet one as she and Clint tried to reconnect with the teenager that the boy they both had claimed as theirs had become. There are still pieces of the boy they used to know in him but it is not hard for them to see the broken shards of Stiles’ shattered innocence. It used to only be cracked from the blow of Claudia’s death but now, it was completely shattered around him in indiscernible pieces that both of them think they could not fix.

Natasha could only wonder just what had happened during their absence in his life, just what horrendous thing he had went through to make him have that haunted look in his eyes. She had caught a brief look of Stiles’ body when the boy thought no one was looking and she was appalled by the sight of the many scars that littered his pale body, especially the one that looked way too disturbingly like claws.

She had approached Phil about it, expressing her worry over what she had seen. Phil had told them about Stiles’ possible involvement in the supernatural world but she did not think that he had been in it long enough nor did she expect for him to be in it deep enough to be the target of any creatures’ claws. Of course, she knew he is the local Alpha’s best friend but that does not make her comfortable to think about Stiles throwing himself in the path of danger when he is obviously the only human amongst them.

They had cornered one of the deputies who had obviously been closer to Stiles than the other deputies and it was not hard for them to guess that he is a supernatural creature too when he tensed at the sight of them, obviously smelling the wolfbane that they had purposely brought with them.

Natasha and Clint hanged at the back as they let Phil take over, letting him use the family card against the deputy who kept on being wary of them, a good decision on the man’s part since none of them are in a genial mood at the moment.

Phil interrogated him about the supernatural happenings that had occurred in the town and they all disclosed their identity and status to him in order to get him to comply since most people tend to be agreeable once they realized that they are dealing with the Avengers. Being a hero sometime have its perk, even if hers and Clint’s true identity was never disclosed to the mass other than their codename.

It was obvious that the man-Jordan Parrish, was reluctant to spill the bean but when Phil brought in Stiles’ and John’s name into it, the man had opened up easy enough. He told them of Stiles’ impromptu adventure into the supernatural world through his own curiosity getting the better of him.

Natasha was not surprised by it.

Of course Stiles would want to search for the half torn body in the wood in the middle of the night. Natasha swear that the boy has no self-preservation sense most of the time despite his sparingly perspective self and it looks like growing up did not help him grow his self-preservation sense at all.

They spent hours hearing the man speak about the stories that John and Stiles had filled him up with, of the creatures that they had faced and of the struggle they often have for their life. The part of the Nogitsune had Clint going nearly catatonic with rage, obviously remembering his time under Loki’s control and Natasha could not blame him for it. If there is anyone who could relate to Stiles about being forced to do something whilst being controlled, it would be Clint.

Though what affected Natasha the most was the part of Donovan’s death. She knew Stiles. They boy would not harm anyone unless it is to protect those he loves and she knew just how much he must have been blaming himself for being the cause of someone’s death.

It is more than obvious that Stiles is going through an existential issue, questioning himself and his morality when he had caused someone to lose the light in their eyes and Natasha made a mental note to sit him down and talk about it. Out of people, she understood the turmoil he is going through the most. It had been a part of most of her life and she would be damned if she let Stiles go through this alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it! Leave a review on the way out!

**Author's Note:**

> And leave a review on the way out as usual ^_^


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